Everybody has to be somewhere and yesterday, for me, it was the auto dealer for routine maintenance on my Jeep Renegade. It’s a 2015 model that continues to serve me well which is good because I’m not a “car” person and the very idea that one of these days I may have to go thru the process of purchasing another new car makes me sick to my stomach. My wife drives a 2014 Buick LaCrosse that has 70k original miles on it and fortunately, she still loves it. No sir, I’d rather have a colonoscopy than buy a new car, and I’m talking the old-fashioned kind, where they used to send a sketch artist up there for a better look…

“One thing’s certain, I’ll never own an EV”, I told some fellow in the dealer waiting room as we discussed these things. Fortunately, I’m old enough that I think I can back that up. I don’t want one. Give me internal combustion or give me death. The government’s insistent march toward electric and away from gasoline has been dealt a serious blow in this regard since Elon Musk morphed from “Tony Stark” into the most hated man on the planet thanks to his role as Dr. Simon Bar Sinister, a bad idea that probably cost him trillions of dollars and at least a dozen baby mamas with a conscious.

I’m not sure Tesla will survive that transition which should make sane people wonder about the future viability of Starlink and even SpaceX. Tesla stock didn’t trade like it was an auto maker, it was mostly internet meme with Musk at the forefront of that technology. I’m no stock market expert, but I’d guess TSLA has seen it’s golden age and now the market is adjusting its value more like an auto maker than a viral TikTok moment.

The trade wars of 2025 will also set back the market for electric cars as the best and most affordable models are now rusting on a container ship from China and may never see a US port for the duration of this administration. So I figure my hope for buying at least one more new gas-powered automobile is still alive and well. I’m 66 years old and not currently in the market for anything new. My Jeep has 120k miles on it and I figure it’s good for at least 100k more.

I’ll re-visit this subject when I’m 75. Who knows, maybe I’ll own an electric golf cart by then?